Why Serendipity is Compulsory in All Your Life’s Remaining Journeys.
Don’t just watch life passing you by. To really live, practise this.
Serendipity
Horace Walpole entered the word “serendipity” into the lexicon in 1754. A Persian fairy tale had intrigued him. In the tale, three princes of Serendip (modern day Sri Lanka) traveled the world discovering, “by accidents and sagacity,” things they were not seeking. Today serendipity has gained its rather grand and mysterious significance.
It is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. It is the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.
My Soul’s Increase By Happy Circumstance
Her unmistakable face caught my attention. It was the same face I saw the previous night. On the penultimate evening of our church retreat, I moved from group to group in search of further interesting shots..
The children’s choir were rendering a special song when I wondered into their midst that night. The choir coordinator, a strapping boy of about twelve years, was standing on an elevated bench.
It was already dark. But even within the poorly lit stage, the joy and the passion of her heart shone through her lively eyes as her fingers deftly plucked out soul-thrilling hymns from her saxophone.
The following day, our retreat program ended. I was moving through the cavernous auditorium of the church building when I spotted her outside, near the printing press. She was at “her thing” again, dexterously playing some tunes to a lively audience that was slowly milling round her in admiration. Their average age was about the same as hers — twelve years.
“You were the one I saw at the children's choir orchestra yesterday?” My inquiry was more out of my need for confirmation than a query. To this she replied sweetly, “Yes, I was the one.”
Leaning on the wall, I prodded her to play on while I snapped away with my camera. After grabbing several frames, I took my smartphone to record some video. Still spurring her on, I told her of my intention while she was playing. Graciously obliging me, she tidied up her black skirt and blouse and get her headscarf tied on. Her petite figure with her simple dress matched perfectly with her golden sax. I am always thrilled by the intricacy of that instrument and the skill of its players.
One after the other, streams of melody were pouring out of her instrument. Occasionally, a slight disapproving grimace showed on her face when her instrument failed to cooperate. She graciously carried on.
“Whatsoever you do the least of my brethren, that you do unto me…” Next comes one of our church’s favourite songs,
“… Jesus, only, Jesus ever, Jesus all in all we sing … ”
Still more songs were to pour out later.
A few more minutes and it was time for me to move on. But her mesmerizing tunes lingered on my heart. Turning to her in appreciation, I asked, “Can I have your mum’s number? I will send her this video clip along with the other shots.” Her elder sister wrote their mum’s name and number for me. “Make sure it is a WhatsApp number”, I reminded them before we parted. Her younger sister, quipped in, “My mum phone is small”, By that, she meant it wasn’t an Android smartphone . “OK, send me your dad’s number.” “My dad is not at home. He travelled.” “Give me his number all the same. I will send him these shots. He will be much delighted to see you playing rapturously on your saxophone.” Pausing for a moment, she turned her bright, lovely eyes momentarily on me. Demurely, her voice came through. “I don’t have a father. My father is late.”
She showed no desire to elicit pity. Her radiant smile was undiminished. I consoled her, “I’m so sorry that your dad is no more. God Almighty will surely take care of you.” Walking away from her, I reflectively felt the pain of this pretty orphan, one of my many Christian sisters — the saxophonist. How happy and proud of her talented daughter, the father would have felt if he were to be around to see her little girl of yesterday enlivening audiences with glorious songs from her saxophone.
I got back to my group’s office in the church. There wasn’t a single picture to download from the camera. The camera was warning me of the missing memory card all along, but I never pay attention. I failed to notice my error. Lost in admiration, my mind was too carried away by the saxophonist during my video recording. On my last use, I had forgotten to retrieve the memory card from the card reader and back to the camera. All the pictures shown here are screen grabs from the video clip I recorded with my smartphone.
After my flopped photo session, I asked her to lead me to her mum. She wasn’t immediately within reach. Later on, she came with her to the unit where I was working. I showed her the pictures and video of her daughter playing on her saxophone. Tina plays the saxophone, her mum plays the violin. Same goes for all her siblings except her younger sister.
On that last day of the retreat, listening to that young lady play enthrallingly was one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences of that spiritual retreat. I always watch out for all such moments. Watch the video clip here.
In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.
Albert Camus
Serendipity Enriches Life
Serendipity moments stir up your curiosity, which is often the starting point of innovation. Many grand discoveries and inventions in science, engineering, and other fields have started with inspiration from unlikely sources.
Steve Jobs found the inspiration for Apple computers from the beautiful calligraphy found on the posters in his college campus. Sir Isaac Newton derived the laws of gravity when, perchance, an apple fell on his head. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when, perchance, a mold got into one of his Petrie dishes and killed the bacteria he was trying to grow. Of his chance finding of penicillin, Fleming said of that serendipity moment.
One sometimes finds what one is not looking for.
Nature makes penicillin, I just found it; one sometimes finds what one is not looking for.
Alexander Fleming
Making serendipity work in your favor
Here’s how you can make room for more serendipity and its benefits in your life.
- Go a head be curious, it is okay to be a child again. When you look around, you will be amazed by what you discover. Growing up as children, every unfamiliar sight and sound was a thrilling winder. As adults, we pretend or choose to not notice life curiosities any longer. This is how we lost our capacities to observe and gaze in wonder and amazement at life’s serendipities. This has left many of us poorer despite our unending streams of technological marvels.
- Being open-minded is not the same thing as over-connection. Practice deliberate disconnection from your mobile devices more often. By being constantly glued to your portable devices, you won’t be able to notice or grab some inspiration that may beckon on you.
- Change your daily routines and watch out for things outside your normal areas of interest. Streams of new and interesting discoveries await you as you practice this regularly.
- Not only should you look for calm environments, you must also learn to practise quietness by stilling raging internal storms. Striving hard to recollect some things you’ve forgotten often end in futility. But when you calm down, your subconscious will often bring back answers to long forgotten issue you are struggling to remember. Calm down.
- Do not take everything at their face values. Cultivate a mind that question everything.
- Develop and use your power of observation to notice not so obvious changes in patterns or absence of changes where changes ought to be present.
- Do not search only for what you are expecting. Also, watch out for what you are not expecting. Be observant and curious about those things that are not in your normal areas of interest.
Takeaway
Always make time for life’s serendipities. Often, these so-called life’s brief moments are the ones that count most. Life is so brief that we all stand at risk of rushing through it, only to discover that we have not lived at all.
SOURCES
Click here and here for interesting serendipity stories.